Dark Fantasy’s Extra

Lasso Village is about 3 hours away from the Order.

It used to be a limestone mining village, but for some reason, people left hundreds of years ago.

And a few years ago, someone bought it and built a glass factory there.

“Whoever it is sure has bad luck.”

That factory will be destroyed by Snow White’s avatar before it can properly operate.

Of course, that’s only if I fail to stop it properly.

I wracked my memories from my previous life to come up with countermeasures against Snow White’s avatar.

While Snow White’s avatar is incomparably weaker than the main body, in the late game, they swarm like ants, and if you get surrounded, it’s instant game over.

Most battles with witches are branching points in the game, and dying naturally leads to a bad ending or dead ending.

Moreover, Snow White’s avatar counted as the witch herself, making it an opponent you couldn’t underestimate.

However, I only have to deal with one.

Even at a low level, as long as you’re careful about special techniques, you can handle it sufficiently.

The avatar can use a bit of ice magic, but what you need to be more careful about is mental attacks.

If you’re directly hit by a mental attack, your actions stop momentarily.

In the game, it was just an annoying ability, but here in reality, that moment could mean the difference between life and death.

I steeled my resolve and headed to Lasso Village.

*    *    *

“Welcome, hunter.”

A well-built middle-aged man was waiting for me at the entrance to Lasso Village.

“You must be tired from the long journey. Would you like some food first to rest?”

He looks familiar somehow….

“I’m fine. I’d rather meet the village chief first.”

For now, work takes priority over food.

I need to finish the inspection quickly to have time to prepare for Snow White.

“I am the village chief.”

“What?”

Ah, of course.

Looking closely, he looks exactly like one of the survivors you could find when visiting Lasso Village in Blue Paper Moon.

There, he was thinner and his face dirtier.

Moreover, he was mentally unstable then, so I couldn’t recognize him right away.

As both village chief and factory owner, he must keenly understand the importance of this inspection.

If I report badly to the Order about this factory built on the premise of trading with them, the village would be finished.

That’s surely why he was waiting at the entrance to make a good impression on me.

“Then please guide me to the factory right away.”

“But we have preparations…”

“I’ll accept those after finishing the inspection.”

“Yes, of course.”

The village chief scratched the back of his head while guiding me to the factory.

He might have prepared some bribes or entertainment to make a good impression, but that’s not what’s important right now.

The factory was unremarkable and ordinary.

They mine limestone from the quarry and make glass through hot furnaces.

With that, they’ll make things like mirrors, windows, and lamps.

That’s all I know about glass manufacturing anyway.

“H-how was it?”

The village chief asked.

“Nothing seems particularly problematic.”

His face brightened at my words.

“However.”

“H-however?”

“I’d like to look around the entire village, not just the factory.”

“Ah, I see. Understood. Then please follow me.”

“No, that’s fine. From here, I prefer to do this alone.”

I need to hurry since I don’t know when Snow White will come.

In the game, the hunter dispatched here was already dead in a corner of the village.

In other words, Snow White will come today at the latest.

I left the village chief behind and walked quickly out of the factory.

“Now where should I…”

“Hello.”

Just then, a chilling voice rang out.

“Ah…!?”

I turned my head in shock to find Blanc there.

A behemoth casually standing in a village of ordinary people near Order headquarters.

If you didn’t know her identity, she might look like a traveler.

I immediately reached for the pistol at my waist.

But even that was easily caught.

“I’m glad to see you haven’t changed. But hey, could you be quiet for a moment? I have something important to say.”

“…”

“Right now, something quite troublesome is heading toward this village.”

If even Blanc calls it troublesome, it’s no ordinary matter.

Could Snow White and Blanc have arranged to meet in this village?

But there was no such information in the Blue Paper Moon I knew.

Is this story unique to the female protagonist version that I don’t know about?

“Something troublesome?”

If my memory is correct, Snow White isn’t that dangerous yet.

The seal hasn’t completely broken; she’s only released an avatar that acts as her limbs.

To kidnap seven boys and make them slaves to serve her.

The so-called Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.

“I’ll try to buy some time, so use that chance to escape.”

“…Get lost, Beast.”

I shook off her hand.

Even if Blanc’s words are true, you must never let your guard down when dealing with her.

She’ll probably try to kill me if I actually run away after she tells me to escape.

“Right now, you’re the most troublesome existence in this village.”

I must keep acting like a cold hunter.

“Do you think I might harm the villagers? If I had such intentions, it would already be over. I’ve taken a liking to you. That’s why I don’t want you to die meaninglessly in a place like this.”

I walked forward without listening further.

“Wait, I’m telling you. I might be like this, but the one coming won’t show you any mercy. They’ll really destroy this entire village.”

“…”

“There’s nothing you can do. If you try to resist, they’ll simply trample over you. No, they might do something even more horrific than death. So please, I’m begging you. Just this once, listen to me.”

Blanc followed me.

Looking at her appearance, I was strongly convinced.

If I listen to Blanc here and run away, I’ll definitely be killed.

If Blanc truly wanted me to evacuate, she would have knocked me unconscious and taken me away.

It would have been over before I noticed, and when I woke up, the village would already be gone.

But Blanc just keeps talking about being worried without even grabbing the hem of my clothes.

She’s truly black-hearted.

“…Sigh, can’t be helped.”

As I approached the village boundary fence, Blanc stopped in place.

“I’ll go try to buy some time. That’s all I can do… So don’t die. My hunter.”

“Who’s your hunter?”

Blanc vanished from sight in an instant.

…Now what should I really do?

Common sense says I should evacuate the villagers even now.

I’m a hunter from the Order, and if I say so, everyone will at least try to run away.

While hunting Snow White’s avatar alone might be difficult, I can at least buy time.

But would Blanc look favorably on that?

She might take issue with the very fact that I believed a Beast’s words.

It’s completely arbitrary and nonsensical, but Blanc is definitely capable of such things.

Then would the best option here be to follow Blanc to confirm if Snow White is really coming, then return to the village to warn everyone?

“…That’s impossible.”

I’ve been deceived by Blanc double-digit times in my previous life.

Though it wasn’t real but a game, I’m familiar with her methods.

Here, ‘not following’ is definitely the right answer.

“Hmm…”

Right now, I need to focus on Snow White’s avatar rather than Blanc.

Which way would she come from?

First, it won’t be the direction Blanc went.

Then over the fence?

“No… From the front, through the entrance.”

Snow White’s avatar will definitely walk in normally through the entrance.

To begin with, the witch’s seal hasn’t broken yet.

Naturally, there won’t be any information or rumors about Snow White.

Then she just needs to walk into the village normally.

Nobody will think she’s a monster anyway.

Her goal is to kidnap and brainwash boys she likes, so she’ll infiltrate secretly.

“Should be here?”

I already know who the target is.

I observed people while walking around the village.

Since it’s a small town, I could quickly find that boy.

Kai, a beautiful boy with blonde hair and blue eyes, was moving boxes.

This world has no concept of minors.

Let alone children’s rights, it’s hard to find human rights at all.

If you can move, you naturally have to work to earn money, and if you can’t, you’ll be driven out or starve to death.

Though Kai was still far from being called an adult, he was already working with soot blackening his face.

Yet his delicate features were immediately recognizable.

While identical to what I saw in the game in my previous life, seeing him in person certainly has more impact.

I’ve found the target, but what next?

Should I keep waiting here?

“Excuse me…”

Just then, someone called out to me.

When I turned my head, there was a girl who looked as refined as Kai, or somehow similar.

“Pardon me. You’re a hunter, aren’t you?”

“You’re…”

I almost said her name but barely stopped myself.

“The village chief is calling. He asked me to bring you if you’re finished with your work.”

“…Not yet.”

“Ah, and also…”

“Hm?”

“He said he also prepared a very beautiful lady.”

“…A beautiful lady?”

I sighed.

So that’s what he prepared?

“Tell him I’m not done yet… Wait a moment.”

A beautiful lady?

“Have you seen what she looks like?”

“Yes. I saw her with my brother earlier.”

“Your brother?”

“Yes. That blonde boy over there.”

She pointed at Kai.

So they were siblings after all.

“Oh right, I forgot to introduce myself. I’m sorry. My name is Gerda.”

Kai and Gerda.

In Blue Paper Moon, Kai is kidnapped by Snow White Margarete, and Gerda has a sub-quest where she sets out to find the witch in search of her lost brother.

If this were an ordinary game, it would have ended happily, but in Blue Paper Moon, it ends in tragedy with Gerda killing Kai with her own hands after he’s been brainwashed and modified to become one of Snow White’s seven servants.

And because one of the seven servants dies, when you later fight Snow White directly, the number of summoned servants reduces to six, and since I can summon Gerda as an ally, the battle becomes a bit easier.

Given how Gerda’s AI becomes excessively aggressive and rarely survives until the end of the battle with Snow White, and considering the variety of death quotes she has, dying there must have been the developer’s intention.

“So, what did that woman look like?”

“She had short hair in a strange color. Silver with what looked like blue mixed in…”

“What color were her eyes?”

“Dark red. She was beautiful, but I was a bit scared.”

“…I see. Right.”

I’ve found the witch.